Brian Brett
Canadian | ethnicity = | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = Simon Fraser University | period = | genre = | subject = | movement = | notableworks = | spouse = | partner = | children = | relatives = | influences = | influenced = | awards = | signature = | website = | portaldisp = }} Brian Thomas Brett (born April 28, 1950) is a Canadian poet and novelist. Life Brett was born in Vancouver, British Columbia.He studied literature at Simon Fraser University from 1969 to 1974.Brian Brett (used with Brian Brett's permission). Web, Mar. 30, 2017. With Alan Saf He has been writing and publishing since the late 1960's. He has also been involved in an editorial capacity with several publishing firms such as the Governor General's Award-winning Blackfish Press. He has worked as a freelance journalist and critic since the early 1970's. His journalism has appeared in almost every major newspaper in Canada, and his essays in major newspapers and magazines; including the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Vancouver Sun, New Reader, Books in Canada, Victoria Times-Colonist, and Vancouver Province. He was poetry critic, with his own column, for the Yukon Sun for 2 years. He inaugurated the B.C. Poetry-in-the-Schools program, to introduce children in schools to world poetry; and has taught or given workshops on writing across Canada. He has been a member of organizations ranging from P.E.N. International, the League of Canadian Poets, the Federation of BC Writers, to the Writers Union of Canada. While a member of the League of Canadian Poets he performed a national reading tour under their auspices. He has also given readings on CBC Radio and various other media as well as public performances funded by private organizations, universities, Harbourfront, Vancouver International Writers Festival, Saltwater Festival, Sechelt Writers' Festival, Wordfest: Banff Calgary International Writers Festival, the Winnipeg International Writers Festival, National Book Festival, and the Canada Council. In May 2005 he became chair of the Writers' Union of Canada. He lives on his farm on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia. Writing In his 2004 memoir Uproar's Your Only Music, Brett wrote about growing up with a rare endocrine disorder known as Kallmann syndrome, meaning that his body does not naturally produce sex hormones. By the age of 20, he had still not entered puberty, and was believed by his parents and doctors to be intersex until his Kallmann diagnosis. He began taking testosterone in adulthood.Brian Brett at abcbookworld Recognition In November 2009, Brett won Canada's Writers' Trust Non-Fiction Prize for Trauma Farm: A rebel history of rural life. The book describes a typical day in the life of his farm, with insight into the natural history of farming. The jury called the book "a lively, well-researched blend of memoir and socio-political commentary; a rare celebration of youth, age, and the tumultuous, surprising journey between them.Writers' Trust of Canada 2009 Non-fiction Prize "To Your Scattered Bodies Go" won the CBC poetry prize in 2011.Brian Brett — Short Biography, Brian Brett. Web, Mar. 30, 2017. Publications Poetry * For the West Coast (broadside). Burnaby, BC: Blackfish, 1971. *''The Great Ber Constellation'' (broadside). Burnaby, BC: 1971. *''Fossil Ground at Phantom Creek''. Burnaby, BC: Blackfish Press, 1976. * Green Light, Stones, and Trees (pamphlet; with Allan Safarik). White Rock, BC: Blackfish / Cold Turkey Press, 1977. * Savage People Dressed in Skins (long poem). White Rock, BC: White Rhino, 1978. * Monster: An autobiography (prose poems). White Rock, BC: White Rhino, 1981.Brian Brett, Brian Brett.ca, Web, June 30, 2012. *''Smoke Without Exit''. Victoria, BC: Sono Nis Press, 1984. *''Longer Song about a Little Machine''. Toronto: Letters, 1986. *''Evolution in Every Direction'' (prose poems). Saskatoon, SK: Thistledown Press, 1987. *''Allegories of Love and Disaster'' (long poem). Toronto: Exile Editions, 1993. *''Poems: New and selected''. Victoria, BC: Sono Nis Press, 1993. *''The Colour of Bones in a Stream''. Victoria, BC: Sono Nis Press, 1998; Toronto: Phoenix Books, 2007. *''The Wind River Variations'' (with photos by Fritz Mueller). Fernie, BC: Oolichan Books, 2012. Novels *''The Fungus Garden''. Saskatoon, SK: Thistledown Press, 1988. * Coyote: A mystery. Saskatoon, SK: Thistledown Press, 2003. Short fiction *''Tanganyika'' (short stories). Saskatoon, SK: Thistledown Press, 1991. * The Dog in Autumn / The Horizontal Goldfish. Victoria, BC: Reference West, for the Hawthorne Society, 1995. Non-fiction * Uproar's Your Only Music: A memoir. Toronto: Exile Editions, 2004. *''Trauma Farm: A rebel history of rural life'' (memoir). Vancouver, BC : Greystone Books, 2009; Vancouver: D & M, 2011. *''Tuco: The parrot, the others, and a scattershot world: A life with birds''. Vancouver: Greystone Books, 2015. Except where noted, bibligraphical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Brian Brett, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Mar. 30, 2017. Audio / video *''Night Directions for the Lost: The Talking Songs of Brian Brett'' (CD). Salt Spring Island, BC: Tongue & Groove / Saltspring Collective, 2003. See also * List of Canadian poets References External links ;Poems *"To Your Scattered Bodies Go: A suite of poems" *Poetry excerpts *Brian Brett's writings ;Audio / video *Brian Brett at YouTube ;Books *Brian Brett at ;About *Brett, Brian at ABC Bookworld * Brian Brett Official website. * Brian Brett in the Canadian Encyclopedia ;Etc. *Brian Brett fonds at University of Victoria, Special Collections *Writers' Trust of Canada Category:1950 births Category:Living people Category:Canadian poets Category:Canadian novelists Category:Canadian memoirists Category:Simon Fraser University alumni Category:People from Vancouver Category:Writers from British Columbia Category:20th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets